Death of the Party

 Death of the Party (1985) by Leela Cutter (Mark Giles & Linda Shank)

Lettie Winterbottom, well-known mystery writer and sometime amateur sleuth, is surprised to get an invitation to the grand opening of the Gwenna Hardcastle Museum of Historical Romance. Lettie has never had an ounce of respect for or any contact with the author of bodice ripper romance novels and wild horses couldn't drag her to that woman's party. But her niece Julia Carlisle (and fellow amateur detective) has no such scruples. Sensing a mystery behind the invitation, Julia goes and immediately finds herself in another intrigue. Max Genader, a charming and handsome party crasher, enlists her aid in getting him in the door. Now Julia has two mysteries to ponder: Why was her aunt (and herself) invited to the party and what exactly is Max Genader up to?

Before the night is over, she has a third mystery to solve. The lights are dimmed and then during the presentation of a Romeo and Juliet diorama specially designed for the museum, the body of Gwenna's conniving and lascivious nephew Freddie is found stabbed to death at the feet of Juliet. Gwenna looks very guilty with a smear of blood across her party frock. Though she claims someone brushed up against her in the dark. And Max seems to be involved somehow as well, because Julia finds him knocked unconscious and rolled up in a rug in the library (where the diorama was stashed prior to the grand reveal). The police suspect first Gwenna, then her stable hand Hal, then her assistant Penny Smith, and then...well, you get the idea. There aren't any real clues pointing to anyone in particular (other than the bloody frock) and there isn't a motive strong enough to hang a murder on and nobody has an alibi.

Gwenna asks Lettie (whose reputation as an amateur sleuth precedes her) to investigate on her behalf--not just the murder. Apparently, there has been an ongoing campaign to harass the romance writer and drive her crazy. (Lettie thinks it might be working.) Is the murder part of the campaign or did someone just have it in for Freddi? Soon Lettie, Julia, and Max (who keeps popping up) are sorting through the eccentric doings and little subterfuges of the Hardcastle household to find not just who might have wanted to kill Freddie, but who wanted to kill him the most and why. 

So: Welcome to the country house/party meets spy thriller! This combination shouldn't work, but somehow it does. What starts off looking like your usual British country house party murder soon ventures off into MI5 territory. We find out that Lettie and Julia are besties with Colonel Thorn who manages all kinds of hush-hush operations and who has had his eye on the Hardcastle entourage. It begins to look like the campaign against Gwenna is tied to a plot to wangle secrets out of important British personages. And when Lettie discovers a stash of "truth-serum" pills amongst Gwenna's pharmaceutical supplies it looks to be a near-certainty. 

Julia and Max wind up shadowing Gwenna's doctor (and partner in the museum project), Dr. Hoggwell, and their task takes them on a journey to France where they go undercover in the middle of a group of hot air balloon enthusiasts. Before the mystery is solved, Julia will impersonate a stunt driver, Lettie will impersonate the richest woman in England, and Max will wind up taking part in what becomes a villainous nearly-fatal scene from an episode of  The Avengers (Steed & Peel). 

As I said two paragraphs ago, this combo shouldn't work, but it does. It's great fun and worth the price of admission to watch Lettie swan about the French health spa like she owns the place (as well as half of England) and Julia drive vehicles like the Bandit or the Dukes of Hazzard. It's also nice to see the women come dashing to the rescue of the incapacitated hero. SPOILER: Seriously, how does Max keep his job as an undercover agent? He gets knocked out at the beginning of the book and snatched by the baddies at the end and injected with truth serum. He fights the drug manfully, but is on the brink of spilling all his beans when the cavalry (Julia and Lettie) show up to save his bacon. We're going to hope he's just having a bad day...or two. The book loses all claim to fair play and clue-finding after just a few chapters--it isn't difficult to figure out who the bad guys are. In fact, one of them is straight-up introduced as a bad guy. But it is great fun and a quick read. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: The harvest moon was well over the horizon, gleaming amber on the soft leather of the convertible's interior.

Last line: "I hope it's The Spy Who Loved Me," she replied.
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Deaths = 3 (one stabbed; two fell from height)